


183

by MadJJ



Series: Starkinelli Shorts [8]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Mood Board, Moodboard Included, One Shot, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 03:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21451450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadJJ/pseuds/MadJJ
Summary: Angie hears the words of her Soulmark surprisingly often. After a while, she just starts saying the most random things in response.
Relationships: Angie Martinelli/Howard Stark
Series: Starkinelli Shorts [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1512605
Kudos: 38





	183

**Author's Note:**

> The word “glitch”, while it originated in the 1940s, usually referred to radio on-air mistakes if I believe that one article I read about it, and wasn’t really used commonly to mean a “technical error” until the 1960s. For the sake of this fic, I am going to ignore that and pretend it was already common place, because English is not my first language and I still haven’t finished the research I was meant to do on 1940s slang.
> 
> Tdlr; I know nothing and do whatever

With her Soulmark, Angie fully expected that she’d work somewhere where drinks were served. It took her by surprise when she did get a job, but as a waitress in a dinner that was alcohol free.

(at least as far as the customers were concerned. No way would the employees ever share the schnapps hidden behind the counter. They kept it for themselves for when they had had a long, long day dealing with ungrateful customers and the likes)

And yet, she still heard her Soulmark a bit more often than she would have liked. The first time, she had been taken by surprise. Stumbling over herself, she had been so flustered the man who had said her Words almost left before she could speak to him. She barely managed to ask him if he was her Soulmate. Eventually, she got confirmation that he was not and was left embarrassed and a bit stunned.

The second time, she still hadn’t been prepared. She had answered something incredibly banal. To make sure it was a false alarm, she had exposed the content of her embarrassing Soulmark again.

By the third time, she was ready and managed to tell the stranger something so random she could not have mistaken it for anything else. The woman had thought her crazy and Angie hadn’t ever seen her again (thank goodness).

Not willing to pass for a crazy person every time, and since her Words seemed to be coming back more often than they should have, she started describing her surroundings.

To the man in the raincoat, she said ‘The light behind you has been flickering for three days’.

To the old woman with her small dog, she said: ‘There’s a beautiful butterfly outside and, I’m sorry, but you can’t have a dog in here’.

To the six year old boy, she said: ‘You probably shouldn’t know that word at your age – and you’re way too young for me so stop making me googly eyes’.

Over the course of a year, she had had about ten false alarms.

By the time she met her actual Soulmate, she had given up on even trying for complete sentences.

The man was not particularly tall, nor dark, nor – well, maybe he was handsome. Angie found him handsome at least.

_He’d be prettier if he smiled_, she thought with a snicker. The sentence was one she had heard so much while she worked that she had come to loathe hearing it almost more than unsolicited groping.

Smiling he was not, as he seemed so down that even the thin line of his mustache was drooping. His hair, despite being combed and gelled with care, was falling on his forehead a bit.

_I wonder if he’d look better without his five-o’clock shadow or if that’s actually a better look on him._

Scratch what she had thought earlier. She found him very handsome. Not the first time this had happened with a client, but she cheered a bit inside when he settled at the counter; that meant she had more opportunities to ogle him up close under the pretense of cleaning the surfaces nearby or preparing some drinks.

Angie grabbed a menu and was about to give it to him, when he said:

“I’m too sober for this.”

Angie froze, and she cursed herself for the flutter of hope that had her perk up for a second. She wouldn’t have minded if he was, indeed, her Soulmate.

She imagined herself pushing back the strands that were falling on his forehead in an affectionate gesture and immediately felt silly for the little fantasy. She didn’t know the first thing about him, yet here she was thinking about domesticity and casual forehead touching.

_Come back to Earth, Ang, your head’s stuck in the clouds again._

Bracing herself for the usual deception, she looked over at the cash register. She tried to affect a neutral expression and tone to hide her trepidation.

“One eighty three,” she read out loud to him.

“What?”

“One eighty three. And I’m sorry sir, we don’t have any alcoholic beverage in this establishment. If you want a beer, I can recommend the pub that should open in about ten minutes across the street – if you still want to have something here, we have a large array of options for milkshakes, coffee and teas,” she smiled her waitress smile at him while handing him the menu.

He didn’t take the menu. Instead, he stared at her, mouth open, as if he had seen a ghost.

“Did you just say ‘_One eight three_’?” he asked her to repeat.

Angie, who had had the time to forget the numbers during her explanations, looked over to her left to check, then back at him.

“Yes, I have.”

Whether she had just said eight or eighty didn’t seem all that important. Would it be important to him?

She stomped down the flutter of hope again. His reaction didn’t have to mean anything.

He grasped her hand, the one still holding the menu in his direction, and ignored the piece of paper. The menu fell out of her grasp. He held onto her like she was something precious that would break under too much pressure, yet that he desperately needed to survive and could not let go under any circumstances.

“What does it mean?” he pressed with a hint of despair in his voice.

He was asking the question as if those three numbers held the secret to life, the universe, and everything else.

“It’s… The amount the last patron paid, 1 dollars and 83 cents,” Angie said slowly, “I think for three milkshakes, two cups of coffee and the burgers he ordered for his family. Why, does it mean anything to _you_?”

Either he was a loony or -

He began laughing, a little maniacally, and Angie got worried for her hand a moment.

“I’ve been wondering for years what those numbers meant, and they were just some random man’s dinner tab?”

“Ah – does that mean that one three eight is your Soulmark?”

“One eight three,” he corrected. Then, with wonder, he added; “You’re my Soulmate.”

“Apparently! Are you all right? You’re a little pale -”

“I’ve never been better in my life!” he smiled brightly.

It gave him a mischievous look that Angie found adorable. Definitely her Soulmate, she couldn’t think of anyone else she thought of as adorable and attractive at the same time.

He then frowned, which made Angie anxious.

“Wait, why would you say that in answer to your Words?”

Angie shrugged, a little embarrassed.

“I’ve been hearing ‘I’m too sober for this’ a lot more than you’d expect while working here. Even if there’s a sign on the door which tells the customer about the lack of alcohol in here,” she pointed at the door where the shiny sign she had hung up was. “After a while, I got tired of inventing something different each time, so I thought I might as well rely on something that was easily accessible.”

“Random numbers,” he nodded, still in a strange state of realization. “I thought I didn’t have a Soulmate,” he said with so much hurt hidden behind the words that it made Angie’s heart ache.

“What? But-but you have a Soulmark!”

He must have had one if he had recognized what she had said, right?

“Three numbers without any context aren’t all that common, sweetheart – I thought there was a – a glitch if you will -”

Angie’s eyes went round. If he hadn’t know he had a Soulmate, then he didn’t expect her – what if he had never wanted one in the first place?”

“You’re not disappointed, are you?”

“Disappointed? Of course not! I’m so glad I found you – you’re not disappointed are you?”

“I’ve been hearing your Words coming from all kinds of people for a year, but that was the first time I was actually hoping you were it!” Angie said sincerely.

She had always wanted to meet her Soulmate. Someone she could be completely sincere with, all the time, without having to worry about rejection, someone she could spend time with and never get bored, someone who would understand her no matter what.

“Angie,” he read softly, looking at the name tag on her uniform.

Too busy looking in each other’s eyes, they didn’t notice the ring of the bell when the dinner’s front door opened and Peggy stepped in.

“Oh, Howard, good, you’re already here. The committee will be waiting for us in three hours, we need to discuss our strategy -”

“Right, the committee,” Howard – Angie hadn’t even caught his name yet, his name was Howard, she knew her Soulmate’s name! - lost his smile for a moment, looking as gloomy as when he had settled at the counter.

Then, he perked up.

“I don’t really care about that right now. Peggy, I found my Soulmate!” he smiled brightly and pointed proudly at Angie.

Angie felt herself blush from his enthusiasm.

“You know Peggy?”

“You know her too?”

“She’s my roommate!”

Howard raised his eyebrows in surprise, then glanced warily at Peggy and her paling face. Angie wasn’t sure, but it seemed her friend had conflicting feelings about the discovery.

Howard leaned closer to fake-whisper:

“Want to move in with me instead?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!” Peggy squeaked.

Angie had never imagined she’d hear such a sound from the tough British lady, but she found it hilarious. She briefly wondered what it would take to get her to make a similar sound again and how easy that would be with Howard as her Soulmate.

“We still have a lot of things to discuss with Howard -” she took him by the shoulder to take him out of the dinner, “- and you two can discuss living arrangements once you’ve known each other for longer than five minutes!”

“All right, but bring him back soon, English!” Angie called after them.

“Don’t worry, Angel, I won’t be long!” Howard waved with a dopey smile.

Angie couldn’t help but burst out a laugh when he almost tripped. She could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> Psst, I have a tumblr: https://mad-j-j.tumblr.com/


End file.
